- WARNING! This entire article is one big spoiler! Before you proceed, let that be known. However, if you want our opinion, it seems that this spoiler for Jersey Girl is now SO public, that you’re going to have trouble avoiding it before the film comes out. It might even make it into the film’s trailer, for all we know. So, it’s up to you if you’d like to read further. Again, PLEASE skip down to the next headline if you want to avoid this spoiler. Also, please avoid talkbacks for this story as well as we will be permitting spoiler talk within.
Alright, you’re still here. Now, as you know from either reading it here, seeing a test screening, or otherwise, yes, Jennifer Lopez’s character dies very early in “Jersey Girl”, thus, her part in the film is rather small. Naturally, with all the Gigli press, folks are now turning their eyes towards JG and unfairly comparing the two films. In other words, many critics, without seeing Jersey Girl, are proclaiming that hey, if Gigli wasn’t to their liking, Jersey Girl won’t be either. Makes perfect sense, doesn’t it? Right.
So, that was last week. Now, this week the new buzz is this: “They’re changing Jersey Girl to kill of Jennifer Lopez’s character because Gigli didn’t perform well at the box office! They are reworking the entire plot!” Newsflash, folks. Lopez’s Gertrude was ALWAYS set to die early in the film. The film has always been about Affleck raising his daughter as a single parent. None of this has changed as a result of Gigli. Now, that being said, since filming began, very little was known about this twist in the film, and we expected the film was going to be marketed without this “spoiler”, to surprise audiences when it happened. That may still be the case, but given that the fact is becoming so well known, the marketing campaign may give this fact away, anyway. We may not know that until the film’s trailer is cut (see next story for more on that).
Alright, having cleared the air on that, let’s take a look at the press regarding this today. First off, the IMDB so graciously ran this short piece with the spoiler so sudden that it’s already taken tons of fans off guard:
“The failure of Gigli has enabled director Kevin Smith to rejigger his upcoming Jersey Girl into the kind of movie he had originally conceived — one that features Ben Affleck as a single father raising a young daughter, the New York Times reported today (Monday). Until unfavorable reviews of Gigli began to roll in, Smith had been prevailed upon to expand the role of the girl’s mother, played by Jennifer Lopez, in order to take advantage of the publicity surrounding the Affleck-Lopez romance. Smith told the Times that he began trimming Lopez’s scenes after Jersey Girl tested poorly with preview audiences. But, he said, Miramax co-chairman Harvey Weinstein “was always ‘Let’s leave as much of Jennifer in because we paid her $4 million for the movie.’” Her character now dies in the movie’s first 15 minutes, the Times said.”
And here is that very New York Times story to which the IMDB refers:
After ‘Gigli,’ Less of J. Lo Is Seen as a Good Thing
By LAURA M. HOLSON
You would be hard pressed to find a Hollywood marketing manual that says killing off one-half of the country’s most famous celebrity couple in the first 15 minutes of a movie should be used as a selling point.
But in the wake of the box office and critical disaster that is “Gigli,” the film that brought together Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Miramax Films is doing just that with the couple’s next movie, “Jersey Girl.”
When news reports in recent months revealed that Ms. Lopez’s character dies early in “Jersey Girl,” publicity executives at Miramax were displeased. But in the last few weeks, they have begun quietly highlighting the fact that Ms. Lopez barely appears in the movie.
Now, it looks as if Miramax will be promoting the movie the way the director, Kevin Smith, had originally wanted. Mr. Smith, who attained cult status with movies like “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma,” had always conceived of “Jersey Girl” as the story of Ollie Trinke (played by Mr. Affleck) raising his young daughter, Gertie. But when Ms. Lopez was cast as the girl’s mother, the production quickly turned into the “Ben and Jennifer show,” much to Mr. Smith’s chagrin.
The publicity nightmare worsened recently as Internet chat groups and tabloids began comparing “Jersey Girl” to the much maligned “Gigli.” Rumors surfaced that Miramax had cut Ms. Lopez’s part, and even had her face removed from movie posters.
Many of the changes had been made well before “Gigli” even showed up in theaters, largely because of the two characters’ chemistry — or, in this case, a lack thereof, Mr. Smith said. Ms. Lopez’s part was trimmed after test audiences last spring panned the on-screen relationship between Ms. Lopez and Mr. Affleck.
Miramax, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, resisted the cuts at first. “Harvey was always, `Let’s leave as much of Jennifer in because we paid her $4 million for the movie,’ ” said Mr. Smith, referring to Harvey Weinstein, Miramax’s co-founder. The studio’s marketing executives were also pushing to take advantage of the couple’s star appeal.
But that changed as Mr. Smith whittled away Ms. Lopez’s screen time. “It became what’s best for the story,” said Jon Gordon, executive vice president of production at Miramax.
You can almost hear the sigh of relief at Miramax. “In retrospect,” Mr. Smith said, “it turned out to not be such a bad thing.” Now he can only hope the couple chooses not to get married next March when the movie opens, which would provide distracting fodder for the tabloids.
By LAURA M. HOLSON
You would be hard pressed to find a Hollywood marketing manual that says killing off one-half of the country’s most famous celebrity couple in the first 15 minutes of a movie should be used as a selling point.
But in the wake of the box office and critical disaster that is “Gigli,” the film that brought together Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, Miramax Films is doing just that with the couple’s next movie, “Jersey Girl.”
When news reports in recent months revealed that Ms. Lopez’s character dies early in “Jersey Girl,” publicity executives at Miramax were displeased. But in the last few weeks, they have begun quietly highlighting the fact that Ms. Lopez barely appears in the movie.
Now, it looks as if Miramax will be promoting the movie the way the director, Kevin Smith, had originally wanted. Mr. Smith, who attained cult status with movies like “Chasing Amy” and “Dogma,” had always conceived of “Jersey Girl” as the story of Ollie Trinke (played by Mr. Affleck) raising his young daughter, Gertie. But when Ms. Lopez was cast as the girl’s mother, the production quickly turned into the “Ben and Jennifer show,” much to Mr. Smith’s chagrin.
The publicity nightmare worsened recently as Internet chat groups and tabloids began comparing “Jersey Girl” to the much maligned “Gigli.” Rumors surfaced that Miramax had cut Ms. Lopez’s part, and even had her face removed from movie posters.
Many of the changes had been made well before “Gigli” even showed up in theaters, largely because of the two characters’ chemistry — or, in this case, a lack thereof, Mr. Smith said. Ms. Lopez’s part was trimmed after test audiences last spring panned the on-screen relationship between Ms. Lopez and Mr. Affleck.
Miramax, a unit of the Walt Disney Company, resisted the cuts at first. “Harvey was always, `Let’s leave as much of Jennifer in because we paid her $4 million for the movie,’ ” said Mr. Smith, referring to Harvey Weinstein, Miramax’s co-founder. The studio’s marketing executives were also pushing to take advantage of the couple’s star appeal.
But that changed as Mr. Smith whittled away Ms. Lopez’s screen time. “It became what’s best for the story,” said Jon Gordon, executive vice president of production at Miramax.
You can almost hear the sigh of relief at Miramax. “In retrospect,” Mr. Smith said, “it turned out to not be such a bad thing.” Now he can only hope the couple chooses not to get married next March when the movie opens, which would provide distracting fodder for the tabloids.
And finally, seems like some of our readers might have gotten a bit upset at MSNBC’s Scoop column for dissing Jersey Girl, sight unseen, and rightfully so — Here’s what Jeanette Walls had to say at the end of her latest column:
The Scoop has been deluged with irate emails from “Jersey Girl” supporters after we reported on negative buzz surrounding the upcoming flick. The film is to be released next year and stars that fun couple from “Gigli,” J. Lo and Ben Affleck. “Let’s not forget that ‘Gigli’ is awful not because of the actors, but because of the horrible script, cinematography and editing,” said one of the less-obscene emails. “Wait until you get some credible insight into ‘Jersey Girl’ before you even dare link it to ‘Gigli.’
And for the record, folks — It’s great when you stand up for the film and what you believe in…Just always remeber to try and do it intelligently, as well. Feel free to talk about the big JG spoiler in the talkbacks for THIS STORY ONLY — Have at it. We’d love to hear your thoughts and opinions.
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